Learn about the Benefits of H2 Water

Athletes and Active People

When it comes to exercise and fitness we are all different, yet ironically we all want the same thing. This is true whether you are 20 or 80 years old, a walker, a jogger, a recreational athlete or a serious competitor. Whether you weight train or enjoy cross-fit, yoga or aerobics. Whether you are a recreational athlete or a serious competitor training at an elite level. In spite of our differing approaches we all want an easy, safe and natural way to get more enjoyment and benefit out of the time and effort we invest in our physical activities and fitness. What if there was a convenient and natural way for you to have more energy while also reducing fatigue, lactic acid buildup and oxidative stress? A way to recover faster, elevate your performance and allow you to enjoy your activities more?

There is a growing body of highly credible science that shows molecular hydrogen – or H2 – offers all of those benefits, and more. The best way to get H2 is by drinking H2 or hydrogen infused water. Hydrogen water captured the attention of scientists about 10 years ago. Since then, there have been over 500 peer reviewed papers published showing that hydrogen offers therapeutic health benefits of hydrogen rich water in 150 disease models and health conditions and virtually every organ of the body. A growing collection of these studies have shown H2 has significant benefits for athletic performance and during routine exercise.

What Makes Activities / Exercise Hard?

Whether you are fitness walking or training for the Olympics, the answer is the same. Logically, any activity or training above a resting state immediately increases our body’s needs for energy and oxygen to power the activity. Any activity that is more intense than what your body is used to, stresses your system causing a cascade of effects.

If your activity is intense enough, you will use up available ATP for energy and your body will burn glycogen. When that happens you will feel the burn from lactic acid build up, which leads to fatigue and possible muscle soreness. All of this leads to decreased endurance, reduced performance, poor results and less enjoyment.

Hydrogen Rich Water Increases Your Energy

ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) is the energy currency for all the activities of your body. The food we eat and oxygen we breathe create ATP in the mitochondria, powering each of our cells and our activity.
However, free radicals are also produced every minute from the oxygen we breathe. It's simply a fact of aerobic metabolism. Free radicals – especially oxygen radicals – damage your mitochondria. When damaged mitochondria cannot produce the necessary levels of ATP, the body turns to metabolizing stored glycogen. Glycogen stores are found mostly in the liver where they are accessed and used for energy.

A growing body of research shows many health benefits of hydrogen rich water, including improved mitochondrial function, increases ATP production and potentially induces mitochondrial biogenesis.4 H2 is the smallest molecule in the universe and so rapidly diffuses through our cell membranes, and neutralizes the damaging free radicals. Its protective properties allow the mitochondria to produce optimal levels of ATP, providing you with more energy. When you have to dig deep and go beyond your ATP production, as we all sometimes do during activity or training, research has shown that H2 can support an increase of glycogen stored in your liver.4

The research is in. Drinking hydrogen water shows many increased health benefits including improved energy through improved ATP production while increased glycogen stores help decrease fatigue and muscle damage. Go longer. Go stronger.

Hydrogen Water Reduces Lactic Acid Buildup

Anytime your body starts burning stored glycogen you start to produce lactic acid. Increased lactic acid buildup in turn leads to greater fatigue, muscle soreness and slower recovery. Exercise-induced metabolic acidosis is common among some highly active individuals and many highly trained athletes. It's another silent, behind the scenes effect; if you have acidosis you don’t know it, except by seeing and feeling that you are not performing at your best.

One recent study found another health benefit of hydrogen rich water is that it can positively impact athletic performance in elite athletes. Both muscle fatigue and lactate (levels of lactic acid in the blood) were decreased in the control group of elite, highly trained athletes when they consumed H2 rich water before undergoing intensive exercise controlled by strict test protocols.5

A similar study found that hydrogen water had a beneficial effect on the maximal rate of perceived exertion and lactic acid build-up at critical running speed during maximal exercise. While the exact mechanism was not identified, the study concluded “… that hydrogen-rich water decreases the physical stress during maximal exercise…”.6

A quote from one of the multiple research papers on this topic says it succinctly:“Adequate hydration with hydrogen-rich water pre-exercise reduced blood lactate levels and improved exercise-induced decline of muscle function.”
Kosuke Aoki, et al Medical Gas Research, 2012

Hydrogen Water Protects Against Oxidative Stress

Any increase in activity results in an increased level of oxidative stress. Unusual or intense physical activity over a short period of time (think weekend warriors, interval training, competition, etc.) causes higher levels of oxidative stress and lactic acid buildup (exercise-induced metabolic acidosis). This causes the symptoms of overtraining such as increased fatigue, residual muscle soreness, micro-tears to the muscle fibers, and inflammation. Oxidative stress in any form, and no matter how you got there, is not good.

Scientists have known for a long time that one health benefit of H2 is that it readily neutralizes free radicals, specifically the hydroxyl radical (*OH–) and oxide radical ion (0+).7-9 Especially important is that H2 appears to selectively target the hydroxyl radical which is the most toxic to the cells. Other free radicals (e.g. nitric oxide radical) are actually important to cell physiology and homeostasis.7,8 Unlike other “non-selective” antioxidants, H2 leaves these good radicals unchanged, making it a superlative antioxidant.

H2 Improves Recovery Time and Healing

Recovering from your activity or training is multifaceted and encompasses more than just muscle repair. Recovery (as athletes call it) involves chemical and hormonal balance, nervous system repair, mental state, and more. Sometimes we strain a muscle or connective tissue. So proper recovery requires addressing many things.

Studies have found hydrogen rich water to be beneficial in treating injuries and conditions related to oxidative stress and inflammation, and in treating soft tissue sports injuries.10 Hydrogen water has been shown to help maintain homeostasis of enzymes including glutathione, superoxide dismutase, catalase and others.4 H2 has also demonstrated cell signaling capability critical to the brain and neurological function.4,13 These properties make hydrogen water far more beneficial to your health than a simple recovery drink focused only on repairing muscles.

Hydrogen Water Improves Your Hydration

As H2 molecules neutralize the hydroxyl radical and oxygen radicals, the only thing that is left inside of the cell from this reaction is water, leading researchers to deduce that H2 also improves cellular hydration. This also explains why no published study has found any negative effect of consuming hydrogen water.

The H2 Solution

It's safe. It's 100% natural. Research shows hydrogen water directly addresses so many of the issues we face in having more enjoyment, success and results in our activities, fitness and athletics. And it is effective for a broad range of conditions related to oxidative stress – far beyond those caused by our activities or fitness efforts. In fact, the majority of research on H2 has been focused on chronic disease conditions caused by oxidation. Studies show hydrogen rich water has many health benefits for a number of conditions that are related to oxidation, like metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and even side effects of cancer treatment.11,12 It’s also readily accessible and affordable.

Where Can I Get Hydrogen Water?

Hydrogen rich water is produced by 1) on demand flow-through devices (water ionizers and hydrogen water generators), 2) various forms of magnesium placed in water to create H2 by chemical reaction. (Metallic magnesium or magnesium fumarate tablets, powders or sticks.), or by 3) magnesium media imbedded in specialty water filters.